A masquerade ball ★★★✩✩
Author: Giuseppe Verdi. Performers: A. Pirozzi, F. Meli, F. Vasallo, M. Monzó, A. Rehlis, A. Lozano, T. Marsol, T. Viñals, I. Pkhaladze and J. Castañeda. Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana. Cor. Director: F. Perales. O. C. Valenciana. Musical direction: A. Fogliani. Stage direction: R. R. Villalobos. Place and date: Palau de les Arts, Valencia (IV/21/2024)
A disoriented and erratic dance of ideas against an attractive musical result, this is how the premiere of the new production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at the Palau de Les Arts in Valencia can be summarized.
The young stage director Rafael R. Villalobos presented a cocktail where he mixed the topic of gender identity, woke criticism and ballroom choreography, on a dramatic basis with a stimulating approach.
The problem came with a murky theatrical execution, which instead of clarifying the plot, distorted it with a stage clutter, especially in Ulrica's act. The viewer who has not read the explanatory article in the hand program, signed by Villalobos himself, will understand little or nothing. It's bad if you have to read an “instruction manual” to understand a stage proposal.
The renowned and media designer Lorenzo Caprile did not shine either with a rather anecdotal costume that only had a certain sparkle in the last scene of the masked ball.
If the song didn't work in form, the overall musical quality stood out.
Personal success for Italian tenor Francesco Meli's Riccardo. Healthy voice, with attractive timbre and color, generous emission and with great bel canto technique for phrasing and articulation. Meli reigned with a vocality that combined elegance, style and superb control of the instrument. A triumph in a role that rewards the tenor with one of the most beautiful parts of Verdi's production.
Anna Pirozzi gave a worthy and creditable performance as Amelia. If the voice in the most extreme high zone loses polish and becomes fixed or dull, the Pirozzi is still a true Verdian. She still falls in love with moments like the expressive and unforgettable Morrò, ma prima in grazia, the best of her performance.
The baritone Franco Vassallo combined vocal authority, with tuning mismatches in his ascents to the treble, for a compact and rough Renato.
Solvent but out of style is the Ulrica of the mezzo Agnieszca Rehlis in contrast to the sparkling Óscar of the Valencian soprano Marina Monzó, one of the stars of the cast.
Great level of the rest of the secondary schools as well as that of the Generalitat Valenciana Choir.
Maestro Fogliani's baton consciously exploited the renowned quality of the Valencian Community Orchestra. He combined contemplative beauty, lyricism and drama with outstanding solos such as the cello, for a reading full of detail. There was some occasional mismatch but he maintained constant control so that the instrumental power did not cover the voices.
